by Joilene Rasmussen

Created on: December 30, 2008

Children and Cooking - Making Competent Cooks

Flour poofs from the batter bowl onto my husband's stack of construction bids, and my two-year-old daughter says, "Uh-oh! We wipe it up."

"Yes," I agree, and reach for the dishcloth.

Then we proceed with our mixing of pancakes, or brownies, or bread.

My just-six-year-old stands ready with the next ingredients. I grin at him, and ask how clean his hands are. He leaps away to wash them, giggling at the thought of sawdust or motor oil in the bread dough.

How We Got Here

My children and I have fun cooking together. We have for quite some while. From the earliest times, before they could crawl, I would set them on my hip, and cook. They tasted spices and herbs, smelled extracts, touched and kneaded (and snitched) doughs, pounded steaks, prepared fresh vegetables and fruits, and learned why.

This "method" seemed natural to me. Now, I don't have to get them involved. Getting them *uninvolved once in a while is the trick.

However, because I've usually encouraged their involvement (and taken it somewhat for granted), they know a lot. My son knows enough to prepare several simple meals practically by himself, with accurate measurements - on a wood cookstove. My daughter knows . . . not quite as much - but we'll see where she's at in four years. She does know enough to stir dry ingredients carefully (a challenge for her motor skills), roll a tiny tortilla with a miniature pin, or a bread roll with her hands, pound meat with a meat hammer, and taste-test things. Plus, she eats practically anything we put on her plate, happily. So does my son.

In the process of learning how to be competent with their hands, the children have learned how to ask questions so as to be understood. They've learned to follow directions (mine, and the cookbook's). They've learned to wonder about things, and to recognize that the world is much larger than them, or their hometown.

They've learned that the world is a grand and a huge place, full of inventions, creative people, and different mindsets. For instance, when we use cinnamon, that gives us an opportunity to discuss where the different kinds come from that cinnamon grows in different parts of the world, and is indeed the bark of a tree. When we make Moroccan Lamb Stew, the recipe serves as a springboard for a "trip" to Morocco, and discussing the adventures of a man we know who has traveled there.

Viewed in this way, cooking becomes more than a way to fill our bellies or satisfy our palates. It becomes

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